The New York Knicks seem to be on the cusp of completing a deal for Westchester Knicks guard Trey Burke. Jeff Hornacek discusses lineup possibilities.

Reports surfaced earlier in the week that the Knicks were closing in on a deal for Burke. According to ESPN’s Ian Begley, “the deal will be done soon, barring an unforeseen holdup in negotiations.”

This is great news for Knicks swingman Tim Hardaway Jr., who played at Michigan with Burke. He told Begley, “It would be like the old times: just him bringing the ball up the court and me running the wing, just doing our thing. It won’t take that long for us to mesh. That’s a positive.”

Another indication that Trey Burke's signing with the Knicks is imminent: he is not with the Westchester Knicks for the G League showcase in Canada this week. He's on the roster but the team says he's out with hip soreness and is not with them at the moment.

Going Big

The Knicks roster is deep at forward and center leading to some tough decisions for Jeff Hornacek. Enes Kanter and Kristaps Porzingis have gotten the lion’s share of the minutes, as they should, while Kyle O’Quinn has seen the most minutes off of the bench. Joakim Noah and Willy Hernangomez have been on the outside looking in for a majority of the season.

It looks like that is going to change sooner rather than later. According to Begley, Hornacek is looking to utilize some big lineups. He would say, “We don’t always have to go with a small lineup. We can go with a big lineup and see what happens.”

Jeff Hornacek says the Knicks, who have 4 centers on the roster, may try to play bigger lineups against teams that go small as opposed to matching them with a smaller lineup. This could lead to more playing time for Willy Hernangomez, who’s been largely out of the rotation: pic.twitter.com/F90bENPsKD

The Golden State Warriors have helped to popularize the “small ball” or “death” lineup where Draymond Green plays center while he is surrounded by perimeter players. Although it seems like the league is moving towards more of a positionless game with smaller lineups, there’s still the possibility for big lineups to succeed in today’s NBA. Small ball may be en vogue, but your personnel should dictate your lineup.

At the very least, this statement shows that Hornacek is willing to experiment with his lineups. Hernangomez was First Team All-NBA in 2016-2017 and it’s been frustrating to see him ride the bench. This could be a subtle hint that Hornacek plans to start integrating Hernangomez back into the rotation.

Or this could be a way for the Knicks to show Hernangomez off for potential trade partners. Either way, it’ll be nice to see some fresh faces on the court.